Mr. Big guitarist Paul Gilbert appeared on Dweezil Zappa’s “Runnin’ With The Dweezil” podcast to discuss the influence Van Halen has had on his musical life. It turns out Eddie Van Halen’s classic riffs aren’t the only thing he enjoys playing.
“Playing vocals on guitar – that’s my hobby lately, and one of my favorite singers to copy is David Lee Roth on the guitar,” said Gilbert. “I was thinking about ‘Van Halen II’ and I kinda went through the record listening to it from a vocal perspective. Just like Eddie his vibrato is amazing.”
Gilbert then proceeded to duplicate Roth’s distinctive lines on songs from Van Halen’s first two albums including “Runnin’ With The Devil”, “D.O.A.” and “Beautiful Girls”.
Below is the clip:
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A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and Feeding America.